Admiral Samuel Paparo

Admiral Samuel Paparo, commander, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM), is the 27^th commander of the nation’s oldest combatant command, responsible for all U.S. military activities in the Indo-Pacific, covering 36 nations and 60 percent of the world’s population. Paparo is the former Director of Operations, J3, U.S. Central Command and Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command/U.S. 5th Fleet/Combined Maritime Forces. His years of assignments at sea, and on the ground took him to Japan with the Kitty Hawk Strike Group, to Afghanistan with the 10^th Mountain Division and 173rd Airborne Brigade, to Saudi Arabia and Iceland with the 71st Fighter Squadron, and to Qatar, where he was battle director at the Combined Air and Space Operations Center. A U.S. Naval Aviator, he is a TOPGUN graduate and has flown over 6,000 hours in the F-14, F-15, and F/A-18 and 1,100 carrier landings.